"And I followed you for two years, and slowly you taught me what it feels like to love someone. Later, I followed you every day, watching you fight against mutated beasts and zombies. I wanted to help you but I couldn't. I could only watch you risk your life again and again, and when you got injured, you could only heal yourself."

“I was right beside you when your teammate betrayed you that time. I was very anxious, but I couldn’t stop him or help you. Actually, he had already been bitten by a mutated beast, but the location was hidden, so you didn’t know. Although he was still rational at that time, he was already filled with malice, so he attacked you, wanting to steal the crystal cores you got.”

"And I, at the moment you lost your life, also fell into darkness."

"I'm sorry I never thought of these things before. It's only in the days since I awakened my fire-type ability that I've slowly started to remember them."

After Zhou Quan finished speaking, he gently stroked her cheek and said in a low voice, "Thank you, Xiaomai. You taught me how to like someone and how to love someone. Before, I only felt lonely and isolated in this world."

Li Mai was still incredibly shocked. She was still processing what he had said. She never imagined that during the days she had been frantically searching for him, he had actually been by her side all along.

And all he could do was follow him and watch helplessly as he went mad.

"I suddenly feel so embarrassed. I actually shouted 'I love you! Please come back!' in front of you." Li Mai suddenly felt so ashamed and embarrassed.

Zhou Quan chuckled, lowered his head and kissed her lips, uttering "I love you" directly into his mouth.

And Li Mai heard it.

The night was long, and Zhou Quan's story came to an end. The remaining time was for them to deepen their relationship.

***

Yuze said he would buy a house, and he actually did. He even bought the house next to Nanling Courtyard.

The money was right, and it was a high price. The family accepted the money that day, packed their things, and moved into their other mansion.

After Yuze took over the mansion, he also went to Lu Qian and asked him to help him find someone to repair the courtyard.

He continued to live at Nanling's house.

After that day, the two of them would still meet frequently, and occasionally they would go to Yingxianglou to invite Li Mai and Zhou Quan to dinner, and also invite Yun Chang, Chu Yan, Zhong Hui, Lu Qian and a few others to join them.

The two got along like friends, but Yuze didn't mention that night again, and neither did Nanling.

The two sometimes appeared together in front of Li Mai and the others, and sometimes they appeared alone.

Nanling didn't mention returning to Beijing, nor did Yuze.

One morning when Li Mai woke up, she remembered that it was early June and suddenly realized that she had been in this world for a year.

The day I arrived was also the day the original owner's grandmother passed away.

Zhou Quan noticed that she was sitting there naked, lost in thought, and leaned over to look her over. "What's wrong?"

"Do you remember what day it is today?" Li Mai asked softly.

Zhou Quan thought for a moment, "Today is the ninth day of the sixth lunar month. Ah, right, three days from now is the anniversary of our wedding. So, is today the anniversary of your grandmother's passing?"

Li Mai nodded, "Okay, go and get ready. We'll go back to Lijia Village in a bit!"

“Okay, let’s go have breakfast first, then I’ll get our things ready and we’ll go back together,” Zhou Quan said.

"Well, also, have Li Dong go buy a few jars of wine and some snacks. When we go back, we'll visit a few elderly people. When Grandma was alive, some elders took care of her."

Although those people had a lukewarm attitude towards Li Mai, according to Grandma, they had taken care of her when Grandpa had just passed away and when the original owner's parents died.

Later, Grandma insisted on raising this girl, but the elders didn't understand and advised Grandma to sell her so she could earn money for the rest of her life. However, Grandma kicked them out and became estranged from them.

At 9:00 AM, they returned to Lijia Village. Li Dong drove the carriage directly to the foot of the mountain and watched over it, while Li Mai and Zhou Quan took the things they had bought and went up the mountain to pay their respects to the old lady.

At the cemetery, Li Mai shared with her grandmother the changes she had experienced over the past year and then repaired the old lady's grave.

Zhou Quan found a stone and used his spiritual power to carve the old lady's name on it.

The old lady's surname was Xu, and her name was Xu Junru.

Zhou Quan wrote that his granddaughter Li Mai and grandson-in-law Zhou Quan respectfully honored him.

On the way down the mountain, Li Mai told Zhou Quan about Zhou the matchmaker.

"Have you ever questioned why our marriage was arranged? I want to ask Matchmaker Zhou about this, but strangely enough, I haven't seen her even once in the past year."

"It was during the time when the village was being rebuilt that I heard she came back to the village, but I never saw her. Later, she simply disappeared."

"But I remember the first time I saw her in my yard, I could see the color of her life spirit. At that time, I could not see just anyone's life spirit; I could only see the color of the life spirit of the person who would be connected with me."

After Li Mai finished speaking, she looked at Zhou Quan, who couldn't believe it. "Back then, you hadn't awakened your spiritual root, yet you could see the life souls of some people?"

Li Mai nodded, "Yes, some people can see it, and some people can't. The first person I saw was Aunt Wan Chun, then Li Dong, and then Matchmaker Zhou. I saw quite a few people in the courtyard that day, but I couldn't see others, including the Li clan chief."

Zhou Quan thought for a moment, "In the village, who could you have seen back then?"

“Everyone in our family can see this: the clan leader, Uncle Da Niu’s family, Uncle Cai’s family, Uncle Lin Cai’s family… and from the capital, there’s my brother, the Chu family, the Zhong family, my sister Ling, and now Yu Ze.”

After Li Mai finished counting these people, Zhou Quan thought for a moment and said, "It's not wrong to say there are ties, as these people are all people you deal with now. But I wonder if it's related to money? For example, do you have financial dealings with these people?"

"Money transactions?" Li Mai asked in surprise; she had never thought of it from this perspective before.

However, following Zhou Quan's words, she carefully considered each point, and gradually her eyes brightened. "It seems that's really the case. But Zhou the matchmaker is an exception. I really want to meet her and ask her how our marriage was arranged?"

"How could my grandmother have agreed to our marriage back then? I suppose the matchmaker, Zhou, must have told her the truth about your leg being disabled. But my grandmother still agreed, which I find hard to understand. Given how much my grandmother cared about Li Mai, she shouldn't have agreed to this."

After listening, Zhou Quan also became curious.

He was silent for a moment, then asked Li Mai, "Have you asked Mother about this?"